A majority of U.S. residents support the Affordable Care Act (ACA), according to a Gallup poll released Tuesday. According to Gallup, the latest poll marks the first time since November 2012, when Gallup first started asking respondents about whether they support the ACA, that a majority of respondents have said they support the law.
The latest Gallup poll surveyed 1,023 people on April 1 and April 2.
According to the poll, 55 percent of respondents generally approved of the ACA, while 41 percent said they disapprove the law. The approval rate is up from 42 percent in November 2016, after President Trump was elected, with support rising among all political affiliations.
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However, 40 percent of respondents said they would like Congress to make "significant changes" to the ACA and 30 percent expressed support for repealing the law. According to the poll, 26 percent of respondents said the ACA should be left in its current state.
Kaiser poll finds strong support for bolstering the ACA
Meanwhile, a new Kaiser Health Tracking Poll released Tuesday found the vast majority of respondents—75 percent—believe the Trump administration and Congress "should do what they can to make the current health care law work," while 19 percent said the administration should try to make the law fail.
The Kaiser Family Foundation conducted the poll between March 28 and April 3.
More than 50 percent of respondents the Kaiser poll across all political affiliations—89 percent of Democrats, 78 percent of Independents, and 51 percent of Republicans—said the administration should work to make the ACA succeed. Support for helping the ACA fail was highest among Republicans, with 38 percent favoring such an approach.
When asked about their sentiments regarding the House GOP's failed bill to repeal and replace the ACA:
- 52 percent of respondents said they felt "relieved" that the bill failed;
- 44 percent said they felt "happy" about the bill's failure;
- 40 percent said they felt "disappointed" that the bill failed; and
- 20 percent said they felt "angry" about the bill's failure (Conway, Politico, 4/4; Gallup poll, 4/4; Vladimirov, The Hill, 4/4).
What you need to know about the post-AHCA health policy outlook
Join us Monday, April 10, for an update on the outlook for health care reform and other health policy issues in the wake of Republicans' withdrawal of the American Health Care Act.